Sloth

There are two kinds of people in this world, people who shut cupboards and people who don’t shut cupboards. And only one of these groups does not get upset by this. I know this sounds small but it isn’t, because if a cupboard non shutter and a cupboard shutter are in a relationship, this divergence is a ticking time bomb. The reason for this is that the premise that exists when someone doesn’t shut a cupboard is that someone else will come along after them and shut it, someone’s sloth is causing effort for another person, without a please or thank you. If this is habitual, resentment builds, because, naturally, the person who does shut the cupboard will feel that the person who doesn’t shut it doesn’t care about his or her feelings, or doesn’t respect them enough to avoid unnecessarily burdening them with an extra task. Okay, it’s a small task but a bunch of small tasks add up, and it’s not the magnitude of the task, it’s the premise behind it that erodes relationships. When sloth affects other people, it shows a basic disrespect for them. It’s like the person who is habitually late.

Sloth, or laziness, is one of the seven deadly sins, I believe, because of the impact that it has on our brothers and sisters. And the problem with sloth is that it’s looked at as something minor. If you looked at the seven deadly sins and rated the damage they do, I’d imagine that many of us would put sloth at the bottom. Greed may be a direct taking of material things at the expense of someone else, and this is visible and obvious. Anger explodes and causes immediate emotional impact. But sloth is insidious, it is a gradual and subtle taking away of time and effort from others. It has far reaching consequences. Not only does it contribute to ill feeling and conflict between people, but it means that things just don’t get done, and that includes helping those in need. Slothful behaviour that results in others doing the heavy lifting is an insult to those people who have to compensate for it. Sloth demonstrates a lack of care, and consideration for others. Recognising someone as lazy, and treating it as an inconsequential behavioural flaw is not the right attitude to take. If we were all as lazy as the laziest person we know, then the world would come to a halt.

We all have free will and I don’t believe that there’s such a thing as a sloth gene. We choose to do our bit, and be active and productive, just as we choose to sit around and do nothing. Nobody expects us to go above and beyond, but there is an expectation to do, in our day to day lives, what is reasonable in our roles as participating human beings, particularly when we are in relationship with family, friends or others in the community. Doing less and expecting others to take up the slack simply because one just doesn’t feel like doing something, or isn’t bothered to do something, sends out the message that one just doesn’t care. Sloth is a shortcoming that we all need to be on the lookout for. Of all the sins, it’s the wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me. Freshen me, renew me. Open my eyes to the needful tasks and my own ability to fulfill the work. Amen